Friday, September 25, 2015

Tomorrow I will be speaking at Ozzie Jurock's Real Estate Outlook Conference. It takes place at the Pinnacle Hotel 1133 Hastings Street. Here is some of the line-up. If, like me, you've never attended something like this before, tomorrow might be a good time to start! Check it out at www.reoutlook.ca

Vancouver Real Estate is the biggest bubble in the world - So said Harry Dent last Wednesday, leading demographer in Vancouver.

Further he is expecting a majorcrash this year.

So, is there a bubble and will it burst? Are we really so much overvalued?

Come to Outlook 2016 next week on September 26th and find out what Ozzie Jurock, Michael Geller, and 10 other experts are predicting.

Get the special price of only $67 for one ticket or $97 for two tickets.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

I read about the Upside Down House on a list of unique and unusual things to do in St.Petersburg. While the photos are better than the experience, I'm glad I saw it. A business opportunity for someone in Vancouver!

One of the joys of travelling to other countries and cities is seeing how some things are done differently. Below are some of the unique and interesting sights I discovered during my week in St. Petersburg.

The Russian Museum is not as busy as the Hermitage, but definitely worth a visit. Just a few of the works I saw there, and other museums.

It's quite an amazing experience to wander into a gallery and find hundreds of French impressionist paintings

Some of the T-shirts available for sale on the streets of St Petersburg. Chuck Brook and I will soon be wearing our Putin kick-boxes Obama shirts, although not necessarily on the streets of Seattle

I thought this was a somewhat expensive way to let pedestrians know when they could safely cross.

Interest rates are a lot higher than in Canada!

I thought this was a clever way to advertise mortgage rates. (Should we be investing?)

The current exchange rate for US dollars and Euros. I got about 50 roubles to the Canadian dollar. When I first started going to Russia in late 2013 I got around 30 to the dollar

Pylons for a new expressway that will connect the airport to the main sports stadium

Driving along one of the highways I was surprised by the elaborate road lighting details.

I went to a lot of museums and art galleries during my stay. However, one of the most interesting was a Street Art Museum, created on an industrial property. The organizer is a young lady Albina Motor who I met when working with Strelka in Moscow. The project is described as "a mediator between street artists, government and the people". What is fascinating is that each year the project attracts more than 60 artists from Russia, Ukraine and other countries. However, the works are painted over by new works in subsequent years. For more information go to www.streetartmuseum.ru

A men's washroom at the museum

Above and below: my favourite installation

Outside of the museum, but throughout St Petersburg I came across advertisements stenciled on the pavement.

The Saint Petersburg Metro is the underground railway system
in Saint Petersburg and opened in 1955. The system exhibits many typical Soviet
designs and features exquisite decorations and artwork. Like Moscow’s system,
it is considered one of the most attractive and elegant metros in the world.
Due to the city's unique geology, (it was once a swamp) the Saint Petersburg
Metro is one of the deepest metro systems in the world. The deepest station, Admiralteyskaya,
which was my station, is 86 metres below ground. According to Wikipedia, the
Metro serves 2.15 million passengers daily, making it the 16th
busiest system in the world. A single ticket anywhere on the system costs 31
rubles or about 60 cents. It took four minutes to ride the escalators down to the tracks at the Akmiraltyeyska station illustrated below.

In the Pushkinskaya station

Outside of one of the stations I came across this merchant selling herring. (I was tempted to buy some, since it was much less expensive than in most of the restaurants I frequented!

Around the city (and indeed throughout Russia and the Ukraine) I came across coffee outlets like this.

Outside my hotel I was surprised to find two ladies who offered horseback riding to patrons. My wife noted from another photo that these ladies were wearing high-heeled shoes. Hmmm

Inside my hotel room the emergency escape route was phosphorescent and lit up at night. A good idea.

At the Museum of Ethnography I came across this fellow. Sadly, I don't know the significance of his headress but hopefully Michael Audain will inquire for me when he visits the museum in 2017

Around the city are public toilets. They're expensive, but convenient. 30 roubles for a visit...the same amount as a Metro ticket anywhere in the region!

I left St.Petersburg on a 6:15 am flight through Paris. I assumed the airport would be deserted at 4:15 when I was told to arrive. Boy was I wrong. The airport was packed...busier than YVR except for a holiday weekend! St. Petersburg is a great city and I highly recommend a visit. But give yourself plenty of time to arrange your travel visa....otherwise it can be quite expensive. My rushed visa, (fortunately paid for by my host), ordered in Vancouver but processed in Ottawa, cost $523 for a single entry.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

One of the few new buildings in the historic centre is an unfortunate design solution. The Canadian firm of Diamond and Schmitt took over from a local Russian architect to finish the new Mariinsky Theatre which is across a canal from the historic Mariinsky Opera House. Construction began in 2003 but didn't finish until ten years later due in part to technical difficulties connected with
sub-soil problems. The new Mariinsky was predicted to become Saint Petersburg's
equivalent of New York's Lincoln Centre. It cost a reported 500 million euros.

Another of the few new buildings I saw in the historic centre.

The St. Petersburg city centre is a marvelous UNESCO site and while there was a proposal for a massive 300 m high Gazprom tower, due to community objections it was subsequently rejected and relocated towards the suburbs. Very few other new buildings have been built. Indeed, they are generally not allowed; nor are additions and renovations that alter the exterior appearance of the existing buildings, which is resulting in very little upgrading.

Once you head away from the centre, there is a significant amount of new
office and residential development. However, none of the new housing
being built around the city that I saw will every become a UNESCO site.

A
few Metro (subway) stops from my hotel was Krestovsky Island. Here I
found some luxurious villas and boutique developments in what might be
described as the 'nouveau riche' style.

I saw these villas set out in a gated community on Krestovsky Island. No one could tell me the price.

This new development is obviously catering to a more international market.

One example is the Diadema Club House, a 73 unit luxury development with units ranging from 125 to 470 sq.m. The prices are around $10,000 per sq m. which is comparable to luxury apartments in Vancouver. Parking spaces are an additional $60,000 each. This development features large, column free spaces that allow owners to customize their layouts, air conditioning, wood burning fireplaces, video surveillance, etc. There is also a large shared winter garden.

Four seven-storey
towers on a single podium, podium, standing on the bank of the Central
Nevka and occupies the entire block between the streets of solar,
Vakulenchuka, MPs and Konstantinovsky prospect, - a new luxury
residential complex Diadema Club House, built by the company
"Credo-Invest".
The appearance of the complex was created in the architectural bureau
Zemtsov. High stylobate faced with black polished granite; residential
towers at the corners, which on one side is completely glazed, and on
the other - are decorated with dark gray slabs of natural stone;
terraced completed the top floors - so looks LCD.
The LCD of 73 apartments with an area from 125 to 470 square meters.
meters. Spaces give up not only for finishing, but also with a free
layout, giving residents full freedom in the process of organizing your
home space. Apartments Upper floors feature real wood-burning
fireplaces. All construction and finishing materials that were used in
the construction of Diadema Club House, consistent with its status. The
window openings are set, three-compartment glazed windows in wooden
frames.
Besides the usual utilities for apartments, this residential complex
there is a central air conditioning system. The building is equipped
with video surveillance systems, automatic fire detectors. The complex
is heated by its own boiler. Organized concierge service and security.
Yard area of ​​the complex is designed as a covered atrium, which split a
winter garden, a children's playground. Under a glass-roofed atrium
entire year maintained at 18 0 C. In addition to the winter garden, a
café and a full fitness center. The complex is provided with its own
indoor parking for 164 cars.
At Krestovsky there are many restaurants, tennis courts and yacht clubs.
That is a nursery school and regular schools there are not too good, so
tenants Diadema Club House will have to apply for it on the Petrograd
side.
The metro station "Krestovsky Island" is very close - about half a
kilometer. Road travel from the island, despite the presence of three
bridges, always associated with certain difficulties.

Four seven-storey
towers on a single podium, podium, standing on the bank of the Central
Nevka and occupies the entire block between the streets of solar,
Vakulenchuka, MPs and Konstantinovsky prospect, - a new luxury
residential complex Diadema Club House, built by the company
"Credo-Invest".
The appearance of the complex was created in the architectural bureau
Zemtsov. High stylobate faced with black polished granite; residential
towers at the corners, which on one side is completely glazed, and on
the other - are decorated with dark gray slabs of natural stone;
terraced completed the top floors - so looks LCD.
The LCD of 73 apartments with an area from 125 to 470 square meters.
meters. Spaces give up not only for finishing, but also with a free
layout, giving residents full freedom in the process of organizing your
home space. Apartments Upper floors feature real wood-burning
fireplaces. All construction and finishing materials that were used in
the construction of Diadema Club House, consistent with its status. The
window openings are set, three-compartment glazed windows in wooden
frames.
Besides the usual utilities for apartments, this residential complex
there is a central air conditioning system. The building is equipped
with video surveillance systems, automatic fire detectors. The complex
is heated by its own boiler. Organized concierge service and security.
Yard area of ​​the complex is designed as a covered atrium, which split a
winter garden, a children's playground. Under a glass-roofed atrium
entire year maintained at 18 0 C. In addition to the winter garden, a
café and a full fitness center. The complex is provided with its own
indoor parking for 164 cars.
At Krestovsky there are many restaurants, tennis courts and yacht clubs.
That is a nursery school and regular schools there are not too good, so
tenants Diadema Club House will have to apply for it on the Petrograd
side.
The metro station "Krestovsky Island" is very close - about half a
kilometer. Road travel from the island, despite the presence of three
bridges, always associated with certain difficulties.

One might say these new buildings have some of the memory of the older St. Petersburg Apartments. However, one difference is that the upper floors are more expensive, whereas in the original buildings, the top floors were less expensive....no elevators!

Another new apartment building in an architectural style trying to mimic the older buildings in the city centre. Note the elaborate brick patterning.